The oldest nephew is a sophomore in high school (eeeep!) and is a band kid, just like his dear ol’ auntie. He plays the tenors, and gets to do the intro to the cool new cadence. I always wanted to play percussion but I lack the ability to wail on objects with any sense of rhythm. I find it deliciously bitchin’ that both my brother and my nephew have drum-related talent. 
Friday night the fella and I hauled ass to Hardin County to catch a home football game so I could see Casey perform in the halftime show. The band’s show this year is Beatles themed, and while I am not the biggest Beatles fan who ever ironically traversed a crosswalk, I thought it was fun. (For the record, I tend to prefer highly funk-based field shows that involve lots of inappropriate dancing and maybe even some shouting.) The kids sounded great. The mellophones wailed like antelopes, just like old times. I wanted more oomph out of my beloved trombone section, naturally. There were at least a dozen of them; they should have melted my earwax with their sound. But then again, my band directors always had a hard time getting a big sound out of little ol’ modest me. Which kind of blows my mind now. If I played an instrument in 2010, you’d be hard pressed to ever get me to drop below forte. Truth.
I’m proud of Casey. My parents give him a hard time for sleeping late and being lazy and sort of flighty and teenagery, but when he’s in his element, he is on point. I hope he keeps it up. Fun sidenote: During the band’s third-quarter rest period, I spied him schmoozing with a cute girl named Paige. They were all laughing and joking and taking cell phone pictures of themselves together, and it was adorable. The youngest nephew made sure to stay around them and bug the everloving shit out of them (is it wrong to use the term “cockblock” when talking about your youngish nephews? yes, yes I think it is), so I got a good kick out of that. They are growing up too damned fast for my taste but it’s fun to watch it happen.